In Progress
by Funky In Fishnet
Summary: Darcy lives in Avengers Tower, takes care of Jane, collates data, gets kidnapped and wrangles the Avengers' media profile. She's got friends, enjoys baiting Tony, and finds herself face-to-face with Bucky Barnes or is it the Winter Soldier? Everyone's a work-in-progress.


_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.**  
**_

_**Author Note: **Set after 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier.'_

* * *

**IN PROGRESS**

The first time Darcy met Bucky, she'd just entered the kitchen in the middle of a bone-cracking yawn, her eyes half-open as she fumbled around for coffee. There was Tony's ridiculously amazing coffee machine – and yes, she could call Tony Stark, billionaire genius and permanent tabloid fodder, by his first name now with a straight face, and maybe a gleeful exclamation mark inside her head too. She quickly inputted what coffee she wanted and grabbed her favorite mug, a Captain America one that always made Tony scoff when he saw it because the picture of Steve was so off. Yes, she could call Captain America by his first name too, okay, she still grinned when she did that, which made Steve smile too. He actually tended to look a little flattered which always made Darcy shake her head. Steve Rogers, Captain America, was flattered by Darcy Lewis' fangirl grin. God, he really was perfect.

She was thinking about Steve as she waited for her coffee when she noticed a shadow in the corner of the kitchen move. She gasped out a startled noise, her heart pounding fiercely as she backed away. She hadn't brought her taser into the kitchen with her, damn it, her first mistake.

"JARVIS?"

The shadow moved again, coalescing into a person-shaped silhouette just as JARVIS replied "There are no threats in your immediate vicinity, Miss Lewis."

Darcy was about to point out how very much she disagreed because she knew all the occupants of Avengers Tower and that was not…oh. Bucky Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, or both actually, looked at her, his gaze managed to be both heavy and flat. He didn't look like he'd washed for a while, his hair was greasy and lank around his face and he was rocking a lot of stubble. His metal arm was glimmering in the light, now that he'd pulled himself out of the shadows, and wow, yes, Darcy was finding it difficult not to stare. Clint had told her about the work that Tony had done on the arm, kicking out all nasty surprises and lessening any pain for Bucky. Still, he had a whole metal arm, it'd saved his life and helped slave him into being literally a walking death drone for decades.

Darcy shuddered, then remembered with a jerk who she was staring at – hello, highly-trained traumatized assassin. The coffee machine decided to beep just then, loudly. Heart pounding, Darcy turned around to grab her coffee gratefully. Maybe it'd help clear her head a little.

She knew academically that Bucky lived in the tower, that Tony had gotten a room ready for him, but she also knew that he was hardly every around, if at all. He usually stayed outside the tower because he was still dealing with everything according to Steve and Natasha, the two people that he was actually willing to spend time with. So Darcy hadn't expected to see him but here he was, skulking in the kitchen and according to JARVIS he wasn't a threat. Steve clearly trusted him, but Steve tended to get a little snowblind about Bucky. Darcy had had long talks with Natasha and Clint about that, they'd wanted her to be fully prepped for the Bucky and Steve experience.

She cleared her throat and was about say something, anything, what did you say to Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier? when Clint walked in and swiped her coffee.

"Hey!" Darcy swiped it back. "I know you know how to work the machine."

"But I like the way you make it."

"Ha. I'll tell your husband you said that."

Clint grimaced comically but tugged Darcy closer and brushed a kiss to her temple. Darcy smiled into her coffee but kept a firm grip on the mug. She felt the good kind of warm, so good it distracted her from the Bucky-shadow that was watching the scene unfold in front of him very carefully. Clint acknowledged him casually with a head tilt and just ignored him after that. Darcy decided to follow his lead for now. It freaked her out less that way and Clint knew what it was like, to have someone else's orders jacked into his brain so he'd know what worked afterward too. Darcy held onto that.

"Tasha gets in tonight, you guys going out?" Clint asked, grabbing ingredients from the fridge. Oooh he was going to make pancakes.

Darcy nodded and got plates out of a cupboard with her free hand, mentally reminding herself to collect up more of those novels that Natasha liked. "I'm going to kidnap Jane too."

Clint laughed. "Pictures or it didn't happen."

Darcy grinned and bumped fists with Clint. Bucky was still watching. Darcy raised her eyebrows at Clint, because while she could keep quiet, this was still weird and she had a patience limit, okay? Clint raised his eyebrows back a little mockingly, fine, okay, he wasn't going to say anything with their current audience. Understandable, and he and Natasha did like to keep so much still secret. Natasha had made it clear that Bucky was important to her, on the same level as Clint to her even, which said a lot because Natasha completely trusted so few people.

Remembering how Natasha had behaved when Darcy had first met her, Darcy didn't keep her back to Bucky, she kept her body language inclusive, that shit was important. Clint made a stack of pancakes and slid the first loaded plate across the table towards Bucky.

"You're up, Barnes."

There was a minute pause, then Bucky picked up a fork and began to eat. His mouth twisted into a frown, then seemed to be trying out a new word.

"Syrup."

Clint's smile turned up a little more at the corners as he retrieved a bottle of syrup for the super-soldier sat at the kitchen table. It took Darcy a couple of moments to catch up. Bucky had just learned, or remembered, that he liked syrup on his pancakes. Darcy nudged Clint and held out a fist for another bump. Clint was giving Bucky space to figure shit out without any staring, yeah, Darcy realizing that had been a pretty awkwardly bad move on her part. Bucky probably had people talking to him a lot; Tony probably hadn't shut up about the arm. So keeping quiet and giving him space made a lot of sense. Darcy nodded, she'd save any freak outs for the privacy of her own room, JARVIS would totally understand.

The next round of pancakes were for Darcy, she bumped against Clint's hip in thanks and tucked in. Bucky probably needed physical space too so she didn't sit down. Clint hopped up onto the counter once he had pancakes. The silence was companionable; Darcy thumbed through the Twitter feed on her phone, then jumped onto tumblr. As the Avengers media liaison, she had shit to do. SHIELD was rebuilding slowly and she had to keep people seeing the positive side of the Avengers, thank fuck people like Tony were so publicly anti-agency. Clint tried to pilfer her coffee a couple more times but Darcy smacked his knuckles with a fork, he might have spy-trained reflexes but Darcy had grown up in a large family, she'd learned how to fend off food thieves pretty early on.

At that moment, Steve walked in, sweating from his morning run. Darcy took a moment to appreciate the view and then offered to make him coffee.

Clint protested "Hey!"

"He didn't steal from me," Darcy pointed out. "And he's all post-work-out."

Steve, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, raised his eyebrows at Clint "There's always consequences to stealing, Clint."

Darcy grinned, he'd really perfected that _I'm disappointed_ tone of voice. It always worked like a charm on Tony who hadn't realized yet that he was being trolled, probably because Steve was also very good at the _I'm a helpless innocent in this gosh-darn modern age_. It had worked for a little while on Darcy, then she'd gotten suspicious after a conversation with him about daytime soap operas and had subsequently caught him tweeting extremely proficiently. All bets were off after that.

There was a snort from Bucky's end of the table and Steve's smile softened. It was sort of beautiful to watch. Darcy itched to take a picture but just about resisted the urge; she'd wait until Bucky was a bit more comfortable with the whole living with people thing before she started on that.

"Hey, Buck," Steve said, his gaze taking in the syrup-sticky plate in front of his best friend. "You always did love sweet pancakes."

"I did."

It wasn't a question, more of a careful sort of statement. Steve's smile grew a little bit

"We never got syrup though, spare sugar was all we could scrounge up if we were lucky."

Bucky nodded and Steve's hand dropped gently to Bucky's nearest shoulder, squeezing gently. Darcy bit her lip and quickly drank the last of her coffee. Her phone alarm was buzzing to let her know that Jane needed breakfast, she was probably already down in the labs.

Just as she was getting ready to go, Bucky spoke to her "That's not Steve."

Darcy glanced down, following his gaze to oh her mug. She laughed, waggling the mug towards Steve who looked unimpressed.

"Yeah, I know. That's pretty much why I bought it."

"Keeping a terrible artist employed, very Steve Rogers."

Darcy's eyes widened; that was practically chatty for Bucky and there was more than a lick of Brooklyn to his tone now. Steve was giving Bucky a pointed look, clearly about to protest, and Bucky, Bucky was almost, faintly, smiling. Darcy tried not to stare again and her phone was still buzzing, right. She put her mug down before she dropped it.

"Later, gator," she tossed quickly over her shoulder as she exited.

"Pictures," Clint reminded her as she left.

She flicked fingers over her shoulder, not bothering to look back. Her brain felt like it was buzzing just as much as her phone. At the elevator lobby she paused, hammering a message to Jane that was a mix of _this is your friendly neighborhood Darcy telling you to wake up before Tony rifles through your work again_ and _remember to eat breakfast._ Once the message was sent, she glanced upwards. She knew that technically JARVIS was everywhere but his voice usually came from above and Darcy liked face-to-face conversations, she figured that JARVIS might too.

"JARVIS, how long has Bucky been here?"

"Sergeant Barnes arrived on the fourteenth, Miss Lewis, if you are inquiring about the length of his current stay."

The fourteenth, so he'd been here for three days. That had to be a record. And he'd chosen to actually show his face to people who weren't Steve or Natasha. Okay, so that was progress. Darcy smiled a little, then felt bad because she had to ask.

"Are there...protocols? If something happens?"

There was a pause before JARVIS answered her, "The tower has been reenforced to cope with Dr Banner, Miss Lewis. If the Winter Soldier becomes dominant, there are rooms that can house him and a lockdown procedure as well as safe rooms for other occupants such as yourself."

Okay, good. Darcy had liked seeing Bucky and Steve share a moment of remembrance, but Darcy had seen New York destroyed by aliens thanks in part to brainwashed SHIELD agents and she'd lived through the whole agency getting turned inside-out plus the reveal of the thought-dead best friend of Captain America who was actually an assassin with the sort of kill count that should have only been possible when playing a video game. Since meeting SHIELD, Darcy had learned the hard painful way that people who were friends could actually be enemies. She still felt kind of sick when she thought about Agent Wai.

"Thanks, JARVIS."

"Not at all, Miss Lewis."

Darcy walked into the elevator and headed for the labs. Jane needed her right now, Bucky Barnes got folded up into the corner of her mind for later. Because there would be a later, he'd been here for three days already and it looked like he was putting down some version of roots at last, in the same way that Natasha once had. Of course.

And that brought up other possibilities. Darcy reached for her phone again.

"JARVIS, can you bring up my media work when I get into the lab please? It's going to be a long morning."

* * *

Jane was actually on her first coffee of the day when Darcy arrived though she hadn't eaten any breakfast so Darcy got Pop Tarts for her and some fruit because scurvy was never going to be attractive and Jane had groundbreaking science to stamp her name all over. Darcy checked her filing; it didn't look like Tony had gone through any of it. She told Jane who narrowed her eyes at the thought of Tony getting his hands on any of her work but then nodded satisfied.

Darcy got into her collating and filing because Jane had new data and Darcy could rock a spreadsheet and powerpoint in ways that tended to make Jane smile when she'd been frowning for hours on end at images and calculations. Darcy got so deep into her data management that Jane's exclamation of nerd triumph actually startled her. Huh, she thought she'd gotten immune to that. It was also time for more coffee if her watch was right.

Once Darcy had collected coffee and some chicken salad sandwiches, she noticed a new tab open on her tablet. Ah, JARVIS was gently reminding her about the media work that she'd been aiming to do. She turned to Jane,

"So I met Bucky Barnes this morning."

Jane raised her eyebrows over the rim of her coffee mug because she'd heard all about Bucky but since she hadn't literally run into him yet, he remained pretty far off her radar. Jane's brain had too many other things to worry about. Still, she was interested, maybe because Darcy was and maybe because she'd heard stories from Steve and Natasha too.

"You had an actual encounter?"

"Yup."

"So?"

Darcy thought about it, he'd been quiet and shadowy and obviously very much wanting his own personal space, except for when it came to Steve. Of course, Darcy smirked because a lot of the tumblr crowd would kill to witness what she'd seen that morning. Sure, it'd just been a hand to the shoulder, but it'd been a _meaningful_ hand to the shoulder, and the way that Bucky had spoke…

"He likes syrup on his pancakes," she said at last "And it's pretty much a given now that he's hot for Steve."

Jane bit her lip, like she was trying not to laugh. Darcy's smile grew into a grin and she waggled her eyebrows. Jane shook her head, but she got it. Of course she did, she was dating the God of Thunder who was plenty hot himself. Speaking of which

"When's Thor getting in?"

Jane's smile could have split her face it was so big. "Soon, by the weekend."

She sounded so sure. Darcy squeezed Jane's hand and then turned her attention to her coffee, just as Tony burst into the lab. He went straight for whatever Jane had scribbled up one of her boards, Jane threw her board eraser at him.

"No, Tony."

"But we could-."

"No, Tony."

He started muttering about owning the tower and therefore the labs when Darcy's phone beeped. She grinned at the coded message.

"Looks like we're definitely on for tonight. Natasha made it back into the country."

Jane looked like she had no idea what Darcy was talking about for a moment, then her eyes widened happily. Jane was in love with science and Thor, but she appreciated a girls' night out as much as Darcy did. Tony looked at them with a lot of glee. Pepper had told Darcy to be very wary when he did that, it did make him kind of look like he needed heavy medication.

"Ladies Night with Agent Romanov. JARVIS, make sure plenty of eyes are on that prize."

"I hardly think that counts as a matter of security, sir."

Darcy raised her mug towards the ceiling "I'll tell you all about it when we get back, JARVIS."

"Most thoughtful, Miss Lewis."

Tony made an outraged sound and Darcy grinned into her coffee. JARVIS sounded like he belonged in Downton Abbey but secretly he totally loved gossip. He always appreciated Darcy keeping him up to date because while he could see and hear plenty he didn't get _every_ nuance.

"You know, Barton's going to get very jealous if you keep on flirting with my AI," Tony pointed out in a very faux-casual way.

Darcy almost snorted coffee out of her nose and raised her empty left hand "He's taken, I'm not."

Tony looked like he smelled a story "But you do know whose taken him?"

Darcy's eyes brightened because of course Tony hated not knowing something and Clint and Coulson were private about their relationship even now. Darcy felt honored to have been told about it at all and hey she knew something that Tony didn't. Of course she was going to use it against him.

She hummed thoughtfully "I know that Natasha was best man."

"I liked her outfit," Jane added from where she was stood in front of one of her boards, an orange marker now in her hand.

Darcy nodded, Natasha's outfit had kicked ass. Tony looked from Darcy to Jane and back again. Darcy flicked her gaze up towards the ceiling, she had a feeling that if JARVIS had a face he'd be trying hard to contain a smile right about now.

* * *

Darcy got a fuller picture of Bucky's place with Steve and Natasha that evening. Natasha arrived in a blur of muddy outerwear and black dye in her hair that didn't suit her at all. Her tiny grimace showed just how emphatically she felt about it. Tony spilled over with barbed greetings and questions about the performance of the Stark tech that they'd taken with them, which was his way of saying he'd missed Natasha.

Natasha was holding herself kind of stiffly and Steve was looking at her questioningly, his hand touching her arm gently. He didn't get any sort of sharp reaction and wasn't that interesting? Tony clearly thought so too because he was opening his mouth. Clint managed to capture his attention by slipping into view and curling an arm around Darcy's waist and ducking down to whisper in her ear

"She needs space."

But not from Steve apparently, okay. Darcy nodded because she'd spent enough time around Natasha and Clint to know that a lot of the time super-spies needed space and distance because they spent a lot of time being invisible or pretending to someone else and they rarely felt safe enough or trusted anyone enough to let go and be themselves. Darcy liked that Clint could relax some around her and that maybe Natasha could as well. They both relaxed to a degree around Tony, even if he couldn't resist saying and asking stuff that was clearly Not Helpful because Tony always needed to know. They also liked tying him in knots to distract him from the fact that he wasn't getting any of the answers he wanted.

As hoped, Tony spotted Clint and Darcy standing cozily beside each other. "I thought you weren't taken. If that's not taken then I hope Mrs Barton has a very elastic sense of monogamy. Or do you have an arrangement? That's very James Bond."

Darcy lifted her eyebrows and leaned into Clint. "No, I just get to warm him up."

Clint snorted but didn't disagree. Natasha and Steve must have left the room because there was no comment or even note of noise from them. Awesome. Tony was just getting started.

He was still going when Steve returned, smiling slightly, an expression that became wider and questioning when he saw how Darcy and Clint were now sat together on the couch. Darcy smiled back, her eyebrows telegraphing _Natasha will thank me later, or buy me a cocktail._

Tony must have caught sight of Steve's expression because he plowed right on. "Capsicle, were you at the wedding?"

Steve looked from Tony to Clint and Darcy. "I think they **both** have to be wearing rings, Tony. Unless that's changed too?"

"And you're a few years out," Clint added, his amusement bleeding into his every syllable.

"Ah, but Cap could still know who and where your spouse is."

Steve schooled his expression into something blank and very military-formal "That's classified, Tony."

Darcy laughed, because that was exactly what Coulson said whenever anyone asked why he was Clint and Natasha's handler. There'd been rumors about the three of them, very sexy rumors, which Coulson had done nothing to deny seeing as they were a good smokescreen. Darcy had wondered if there'd been a grain of truth in them herself, but then she'd noticed that Bucky only spent time with Steve and Natasha.

"JARVIS, declassify it."

"I'm afraid that's impossible, sir. It's not a matter of security and any records you wish for me to procure for you apparently do not exist."

JARVIS didn't sound very sorry at all and Tony immediately pulled out a tablet to begin working on the problem "We're not done, Cap, I need a report on what went boom where while you were vacationing."

"Tony..."

Tony waved away Steve's disapproving tone at labeling Hydra-hunting a vacation and Steve's lips pinched but he moved onto what he and Natasha had experienced on their travels. Clint turned up the volume on the TV and Darcy turned back to her tablet. She was looking through tumblr for any photos of Bucky. He hadn't been outed as the Winter Soldier yet but if he was getting more comfortable with Steve and Natasha and venturing more into the light then someone somewhere was going to get a picture. So far, all she'd found were a few dark blurs that could have been anyone but they were the sort of blurs that were appearing more often

Darcy frowned at her tablet and archived the pictures. There was a lot of speculation online, there always was, but lots of people were interested in Steve, for the good and the bad, and one of Darcy's jobs was to keep that tide turned towards the good. She could marshal the troops online, there were a lot of people who loved real-life superheroes and wanted to know more about the Avengers or even lend a hand if that was possible. Having eyes and ears everywhere didn't hurt; still Bucky would definitely hate that kind of intense attention and maybe might duck off-grid if it got too much or broke his brain again. Not good.

"That won't come up on facial recognition."

Darcy jerked and sort of yelped because Bucky was stood right at her shoulder now, dressed in gray and black, his eyes fixed on her tablet. Clint hadn't warned her about Bucky's presence and he'd definitely known that the guy was there. Darcy thumped Clint's arm, as impressively muscled as ever, she'd have to let Skye know that Coulson had no reason to worry about his husband's health. Clint just chuckled and played around with the TV remote.

Bucky was still waiting patiently, staring at her tablet. A chill worked its way through Darcy because Bucky was suddenly very clearly waiting for orders, she'd assumed he'd snapped out of that when he'd started to remember who he was, who he'd been. But hadn't Natasha said that it'd taken her years to undo a lot of what had been done to her? There was no quick fix, no matter how much they liked to think so, Bucky was still the Winter Soldier.

Darcy smiled carefully and enlarged one of the photos, there was sort of glint in that one that could have been Bucky's metal arm.

"Some things don't need detailed recognition," she pointed out softly.

Bucky nodded and watched as she worked and talked to him about the importance of image as she manipulated the data she had, leaving everything online because deleting stuff online was like shining a spotlight – it got everyone's attention. She just did what she could to nudge people in the opposite direction.

That made her pause, how much did Bucky know about the internet? She looked up at him for a moment, scrutinizing. Bucky looked back, blank but also like he was wary somehow, like…like he might have to defend himself. Fuck.

"C'mon, you want to get half of people say nowadays, you need to know this."

She patted the couch arm next to her and didn't wait for Bucky to sit down. He could take his time, he should, as she pulled up her tumblr dash and began explaining. Clint dug his chin into her shoulder and added his own commentary. Bucky eventually sat down and Darcy pressed her tablet into his hands, guiding him through Wikipedia, Google, and the time-sucking wonder that was YouTube. Bucky asked a few questions, less than Steve had, and began to glide his fingers across the touch-screen.

Clint smiled and tipped his head back without warning "There you are."

Natasha was stood behind him; her hair was red again and just about reached her shoulders, sort of springing into loose curls. She smiled slightly, her hand touching Clint's shoulder, he reached back to cover her fingers with his. It was a small thing, like they were reassuring each other. Natasha touched Darcy's shoulder lightly too, Darcy smiled up at her and nudged her body against Natasha's thigh in greeting. It was like Natasha was physically checking that people were actually there. How many people had she lost before? Darcy swallowed her questions and watched as Natasha slid a hand into Bucky's hair, he closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into her touch. It shouldn't have looked intimate, but it did.

Tony noticed and craned his neck to look at them. Right, because Darcy was sitting next to Clint, her feet tangled up with his, with Bucky on her other side and Natasha behind her, practically petting Bucky. It was kind of like a dream Darcy had had more than once. She smirked at Tony, because she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Greedy, Lewis, you get to warm them up too?"

Natasha arched an eyebrow, like she really wanted to hear that story but she didn't move away. Awesome. Darcy tipped her head back enough to rest against Natasha who touched her shoulder again, in a way that was bound to get Tony's attention. Bucky watched them very intently.

Darcy couldn't resist throwing out a verbal caption "Sure, when I ask nicely."

Steve was hiding a grin not very successfully, his eyes twinkling when Darcy looked at him. And Bucky had sort of shuffled closer so that his shoulder was touching Darcy's. Was Bucky helping them make a joke? Steve had always said that Bucky had spilled over with good-humor before, making people laugh and charming everyone. Right now, Bucky was concentrating on the tablet, maybe a little too hard. Huh. With Tony still watching, Darcy curled her fingers and offered Bucky her fist. He looked down at it and seemed to be working something out. Then his metal fist bumped against her skin. Awesome, the education continued. Internally, Darcy did a victory dance. She might have shimmied a little on the couch too. Clint snorted and moved out the way when Darcy aimed for his leg.

Steve wasn't hiding his smile anymore and Natasha left her hand on Darcy's shoulder, a warm telling presence.

* * *

Jane managed to tear herself away from her beloved science and appeared upstairs in a glittering top and skirt combo, her eyes bright with progress and the impending visit of Thor. She also revealed that Bruce had called in to say that he'd be back within the next month, he was just tying up his latest philanthropy jag and had a lot of lab work to catch up on. That was good, Bruce was good people, literally. Apparently the Hulk liked Darcy which Bruce was apologetic about but Darcy thought was unbelievable, overwhelming and awesome. It was a real shame she couldn't shout about it on Twitter.

Natasha took them to an awesome bar where the drinks were cheap but strong and the bar snacks were stellar. Darcy hung around the pool table for a while with Jane and fleeced a couple of guys because her dad had made sure that she could play an awesome game of pool and Jane had enjoyed many aspects of grad school, before they both headed back to their table. Always leave them wanting more. It was right about then that Pepper Potts showed up which made Darcy go the kind of wobbly that she always went around Pepper, because okay so Darcy regularly spent time with Iron Man, the Hulk, and Captain America and yes her heart still skipped a beat about that sometimes but Pepper Potts kept Stark Industries afloat, literally, she was the reputable face that Tony couldn't ever be and she kicked boardroom ass. Darcy had read the meeting minutes that said so. And Darcy got to work with her.

She frequently emailed Pepper since of course Stark Industries was supporting the Avengers and Pepper worried about Tony, because he didn't exactly keep a regular schedule and she used to be there to make sure that he ate properly and JARVIS had taken that over now but still, yeah, Darcy got that. She was Jane's wrangler and she had other Avengers stuff to do too but there was no way anyone else knew how to handle Jane right, not the way Darcy did. So Darcy worked with Pepper and still got very excited about that fact, especially when Pepper wanted to hang out. Holy shit.

Pepper was dressed sort of casually, in a gorgeously-expensive and tailored dress naturally, but it was casual for her and her hair was down and she looked relaxed. She looked amused at Natasha's choice of venue but didn't seem upset or unnerved. Darcy didn't think that she'd ever seen Pepper Potts unnerved. She did roll her eyes when Natasha poured her a drink; because of course Natasha bought by the bottle.

"Always get a bottle and make sure that the seal isn't broken," Natasha stated when Darcy teased her about her Russian constitution.

Right, that made sense too. Pepper asked about Steve because actually hearing about someone in person was way more reassuring than just reading about them in reports, Darcy knew that. And Jane talked about the last conversation she'd had with her mom and what Jane herself was working on because she was really excited and used bottle caps and toothpicks to sketch out her ideas and Natasha was smiling just a little and Pepper was wearing her interested face and Darcy could understand half of what Jane was talking about.

Later, Natasha recruited Darcy to go with her to the bar, "James listens to you."

James…right, Bucky. Natasha called him James. Darcy adjusted her top's neckline, trying to focus because Bucky had talked about her to Natasha, wow, okay.

"He's a good listener and a quick learner. Also I think he freaks Tony out a little so."

Natasha's expression tightened "That's in the files."

Probably one of the files that Darcy hadn't gotten to yet because there were a lot of SHIELD files out there now and she still hadn't made her way through all of them, she had too much other shut to do. She'd get through it all eventually.

"He's okay."

It sort of came out like both a question and a statement but Natasha got it.

"We're works-in-progress, more than most. The upside is he wants to progress, most of the time."

Darcy nodded and kept her mouth shut for now because the moment felt heavy but in a good way. Whatever arrangement Steve, Bucky and Natasha had together, it was working for them and it was clearly helping. Like a tether or an anchor or a bridge maybe. Darcy shook her head and downed another drink, heading back to their table. The Winter Soldier apparently considered her good company. Maybe it'd all make sense if she drank more.

* * *

Several weeks later, Thor arrived, bringing a ton of energy and smiles with him. Darcy watched a lot of films and TV with Bucky, sometimes talking, sometimes just watching, but always drinking out of her badly-drawn Captain America mug. Then she got kidnapped. Of course she got snatched with a hangover.

Darcy stomped on one of her kidnappers' feet, she got a jab in the ribs for her trouble. They'd taken her cellphone and her taser, the fuckers, but they hadn't checked her jewelery. So as she struggled and boy, did she struggle, Darcy pressed her thumb against the flat pendant that hung on a chain around her neck. She felt it shiver against her skin, it'd read her thumbprint and was sending an urgent alert back to the tower. Now all she had to do was stay alive.

"Miss Lewis."

Wherever she was, it was nondescript, like some kind of office building. She couldn't hear any traffic outside. The guy in front of her was wearing a suit and a gun. Darcy didn't even bother to hide her shiver, this looked like either one of the alphabet agencies or someone pretending to be from one of the alphabet agencies. She really didn't know what was worse, she really hoped that the Avengers had grabbed hold of her signal and were on their way.

Okay, time to do some talking, right? She had a feeling that staying silent would just make things a whole lot worse, she could clearly remember her SHIELD orientation which had included clear warnings about what could happen when employed by SHIELD. She swallowed down her rising bile, fought against her rattling nerves and tried to summon some of Pepper or Natasha's poise.

"I want my phone back and my taser."

Her heart was hammering fast but she tightened her jaw and glared. The guy didn't even blink.

"Once we've gotten all information you have on the individual known as the Winter Soldier."

Fuck, they wanted Bucky. What for, to weaponize him again?

"I've only met the guy a couple of times. He was very silent and not at all murderous."

"A dog is only considered safe when it is leashed, Miss Lewis. It isn't neutered or obedient."

He thought that Bucky was biding his time? Because Bucky had a long kill sheet and right, he'd probably slaughtered a few agency employees and embarrassed every agency around the world at least twice. Agencies held grudges; they'd probably been waiting a long time for this. Shit.

Darcy shrugged and looked away "All I've got is blurred photos, no route info or home bases. He's pretty much permanently in the wind."

"But he can be tracked."

And the more information they had, the easier that hunt would be. Darcy really didn't like this, Bucky had scars and horrific memories, flashbacks and nightmares, at least that was what some of Bucky's file said, the part that Darcy had decided to read. He had a lot of blood on his hands. But he was progressing, maybe part of that was regret.

The guy was looking at her again, as though his eyes could bore right through her. It made her miss Coulson, he used to own that look.

"SHIELD is gone, Miss Lewis, and all its walls and security. Those who've been sheltered from the law can finally be brought to justice."

Darcy felt cold inside. That wasn't good.

"The operatives known as the Black Widow and Hawkeye-."

"Natasha's said her piece in front of the world," Darcy interrupted. "What if aliens come again? The bad kind? You need help from people like her."

"Leashed, Miss Lewis."

"So you'd keep her locked up, except for when you needed her to kick ass for you."

"Do you know how many people she's killed, Miss Lewis?"

That stopped Darcy cold. Yes, she knew that both Clint and Natasha had been assassins, that part of their work both before and for SHIELD had involved a lot of death. She also knew that they were both very good at their jobs. She'd seen the look in their eyes sometimes, probably because they'd let her see it. They were both trying to save people now, the needs of the many, even if it did still involve spilling some blood. They had a choice now and that was what they chose. Neither of them were heartless machines, and neither was Bucky Barnes. Darcy swallowed.

The guy took that as a negative and continued in the same even tone, "Natasha Romanov is protected by the government for the work she did during the fall of SHIELD. The World Security Council has specifically expressed their gratitude for her work. But that protection will only do so much. We are not the only people looking for her."

That sounded way too much like a threat. It also sounded like the truth – of course people would be looking for Clint and Natasha, especially now that SHIELD was, well, gone on the surface. Natasha kept herself away from too much media attention outside of official governmental summons. Nobody had caught her yet; maybe they'd been biding their time. Maybe this was why Coulson often asked Darcy for updates on Clint.

"People are always looking for her," Darcy managed to say, her words only shaking a little. "She's that kind of person."

The guy moved a little closer, not a good sign. "SHIELD is gone, Miss Lewis. How will you pay any future tuition fees now?"

_From the money the scientific community are going to throw at Jane for her next amazing discovery, you asshole._ Darcy wished again for her taser. She really didn't like the direction this conversation was taking, if Coulson had been standing in front of her he'd have done a much better job.

"I've got a job," was what Darcy settled on, lifting her chin, trying to project confidence.

The guy was moving even closer and Darcy had the feeling that he might be trying to persuade her to talk or to join up, neither option was appealing. The guy opened his mouth to speak again, then fell to the floor with an agonized cry. Blood began to soak through his pant leg, he lifted an arm, reaching for Darcy, a bullet hit that arm as well. Darcy flinched but stomped down on her flight instinct. Clint had told her before that if she had to send a rescue signal then it was likely a sniper would be sent as part of the SHIELD team answering it and that she should stay still if bullets started flying precisely. Someone was watching out for her, probably Clint. She tried to smile.

Darcy took a deep breath, no more bullets hit. The guy was still conscious but clearly trying to either say something or send a signal of his own. The door was kicked open and Bucky stepped inside. Or was it the Winter Soldier? Darcy stared, he hadn't shot her and he'd clearly had the chance to. She opened her mouth to ask but then they were in some kind of interrogation room so there were probably a lot of hidden bugs and Bucky's identity was still a secret. So Darcy swallowed and slowly got to her feet. She felt exhausted and still pissed off because being kidnapped had never been on her bucket list and she got the feeling that letting her go hadn't actually been part of this agency's plan. She blew out a breath and looked at Bucky, fuck, it was like he was waiting for orders again. Her heart thudded hard but she forced herself to speak.

"Ready."

Bucky nodded and tilted his head towards the door. Darcy gratefully headed towards it. She heard another gunshot, it made her jump. She froze for a moment but didn't turn around. There was a lot of chaos outside the door but there was Steve, throwing his shield. His eyes were intense but he managed a quick smile when he saw Darcy, Bucky right behind her.

"Get her clear, Soldier."

"Copy."

Bucky strode out in front and guided Darcy quickly through plain hallways. Darcy kept up, breathing hard and trying really not to focus on the dead bodies that they kept coming across. Bucky walked until they were outside and clear. Then he stopped abruptly and Darcy mentally groped for words.

"Thanks?"

Because she was grateful, she was out of there, away from those people, whoever they were, and being with the Avengers felt infinitely less unnerving. Bucky just nodded and Darcy had to say something before Steve got out, because it'd been biting at her since she'd heard that gunshot, because...

"Did you kill that guy? The one who was talking to me."

Bucky looked at her for a long moment then he looked somewhere else very sharply "He saw my face."

Right and Bucky was all about keeping a low profile. Still, Darcy could hear that gunshot, the way that Bucky had strode forward to do it. He'd made a choice but it hadn't been a pleasant one. He'd spilled blood, for himself, maybe to protect Steve and Natasha too. The way he'd looked away from her, maybe that was regret or remorse or maybe it was something completely different.

Bucky was looking at her again, like he was analyzing something "Your work protects the Avengers, misdirection and hiding faces. The importance of image. Mine shouldn't be seen."

Darcy choked, was he saying her work had influenced his actions? Because that made her feel incredibly sick, her head spinning painfully and aggressively. There was a thump and Clint swung down beside her, having emerged from wherever he'd been shooting from. He looked Darcy up and down.

"Darce?"

Darcy shook her head and grabbed a handful of his vest. Everything seemed to blur after that, Clint probably took her onto the Quinjet and then she might have passed out or something because the next thing she knew, the jet was landing and Natasha was sitting beside her.

Darcy still felt sick and way more drained than she had done talking to the agency guy. Her heart squeezed, where was Bucky?

"He's outside with Steve."

Because Natasha could read people scarily well. Darcy clenched her teeth and sat up straighter. Natasha stayed right where she was, her gaze raking Darcy carefully.

"That agent was holding you against your will. He was going to hurt you."

Darcy let out a shuddering breath because God, she did not want to think about _that_. She focused on something else "Bucky didn't...it wasn't for me, he was keeping himself safe. The agent saw his face."

"Which is why Tony ripped their systems remotely, once I connected him."

Huh, good to know. But still, Darcy sighed and tried to pull herself together. But she wasn't Clint or Natasha, she was an intern who could work the internet. The bullets and the blood were still new, scary and new. Natasha nodded, like she'd just been privy to Darcy's thoughts.

"It's a new world for all of us. Nobody will think less of you if you need time away."

Darcy thought about it, seeing her mom and drinking beer with her dad and not worrying about her friends getting skewered metaphorically or physically. Only no, she'd still be worrying about them. It'd just been a real hardcore reminder to see Bucky wearing the Winter Soldier like armor, killing someone because they'd been a possible problem. There was also the fact that he'd connected her role with his actions.

"It was like...like he was following my orders."

A vivid emotion chased across Natasha's expression but her face smoothed out before Darcy could catch hold of it. Natasha paused before answering, like there was actually an answer to give.

"You're a good teacher, he listens to you when it comes to culture, the world he's missed and the parts that we don't know. But whenever James picks up a gun and uses it, that isn't you, it's him."

Darcy felt her heartbeat, once, twice. She could still hear that gunshot. Clint had shot too, hadn't he? She couldn't imagine that anyone else had taken those super-precise shots. Maybe Bucky, but he'd already been in the building, on his way to her room. She hadn't really thought about those gunshots.

Natasha's hand lightly touched Darcy's shoulder, then it pressed firmer. "Darcy, you can take time off."

Darcy looked through the jet's window. Bucky was talking to Steve, he was glancing up towards the jet. When his gaze met Darcy's, he quickly looked away. He'd done that after the rescue too. It still looked like regret, like some kind of pain. Natasha followed Darcy's gaze.

"He's still coming to terms with it, the lists of names in his file."

She didn't say how long it would take for him to work through those lists (victims, after-action reports, all bloody) or how long it'd taken her to come to terms with her file, or if she'd even gotten there yet. She did reach into a pocket and hand over Darcy's cellphone and taser. Darcy gasped and immediately began scrolling through her phone's info. Everything seemed to be there. She kept one hand on her taser.

Natasha watched her and then got to her feet, offering Darcy a hand up. Darcy's hands were shaking a little but she wrapped her fingers around Natasha's and stood.

Jane was the first one to hug her when she emerged, asking Darcy if she was okay or if she needed anything. Thor hugged her next, his all encompassing practically-rib-crushing hug feeling so great, exactly what she needed. Jane was looking at her with a worried frown, like she could see all of Darcy's exhaustion and how rattled she was. Darcy could tell that Clint was looking at her too and she caught sight of Steve and Natasha standing with Bucky, sort of closing ranks around him, just being there.

Darcy turned back to Jane and Thor, her smile tight and stretched "I kind of want to just get lost for a while."

Jane wrapped an arm around Darcy's waist and Thor offered her a flask of something that tasted wonderful. Darcy closed her eyes.

* * *

It wasn't like she didn't know what the Avengers did, it was just...a man dying like that, a man that she been talking to. It reminded her of what had happened when Hydra had revealed itself and one of the agents that'd been on duty guarding Jane at work had suddenly pulled her gun and yeah, occasionally Darcy still had nightmares about that. She'd liked Agent Wai.

She talked a lot to Skye, who had gone through her own personal crisis of friend-into-foe on an even more horrific scale. Skye had apparently been the one to help locate Darcy after she'd been taken and had been looking through the files that Tony had swiped from the agency who had apparently been some rogue CIA branch – or the CIA were claiming that the agents involved had gone rogue but Darcy didn't really believe them, neither did the rest of the Avengers.

Pepper called her for a chat and even took her out to lunch, because Pepper had been grabbed before and looked like she knew some of what Darcy was going through. Tony had done a lot to get her back, hadn't he? According to Pepper, it wasn't stuff that Tony talked about all that often and neither did Pepper. They talked to each other though, because Pepper could get Tony to be serious. Pepper told Darcy to take some time, to not keep going because she felt like it was the right thing to do. That kind of thinking led to the kind of problems that didn't always make headlines. Yeah.

Darcy did take some time to sleep and think and stare out at New York. She ventured outside a few times and was aware of someone following her – Steve made sure that he was in view when he did it and waved cheerfully at her, Natasha and Clint usually kept out of sight but in cafes they both ordered her drinks and pastries and let the odd shoe or flash of red hair be seen so that Darcy knew it was them. If Bucky ever followed her, she never saw him and kind of didn't want to.

Steve had assured her that Bucky had been himself, that the Soldier hadn't dominated. The only orders Bucky followed were Steve's and that was only when they were out in the field. Maybe it was seeing Bucky like that, totally focused and honed, unremitting and cold, it was somehow different to the way that Clint and Natasha worked. Darcy was still puzzling through it, she talked to Jane and Thor and JARVIS too because he always had an unbiased opinion and that was really useful.

She didn't want Bucky gone from the tower, which had apparently been his assumption according to Natasha. Darcy had recently walked in on the two of them, Natasha had been sat on the couch with Bucky's head resting in her lap. She'd been running her fingers through his hair and he'd murmured in Russian before she'd replied in kind and had bent down for a kiss. It had been sort of aching to watch and Darcy had quickly left them to it. Bucky was, well, he was lots of people, kind of like Natasha and Clint were, and maybe Steve was too. And Darcy did miss her conversations with Bucky, she still had films and TV shows to watch with him. She did miss that, opening up the amazing variety of the modern world for him, she liked helping him discover what he wanted to see more of. It was epically awesome to be part of that.

Then she thought about the gunshot again and the flat way that Bucky had sounded, the way that he hadn't stopped moving. What war had he been seeing? Was it a new one now?

Those thoughts chased around Darcy's head. She buried herself in work for a bit and caught up with Bruce and even managed to get on the line to Coulson for a bit. He sounded concerned but only told her to call him or Clint if she needed anything. He was giving her space and time, Darcy realized with a sort of pained hiccup, like Clint was giving Bucky. Wow, that was a thought to conjure with.

Works-in-progress, that was what Natasha had called them. Like there was no final destination reached yet. Darcy knew the feeling.

She was eating breakfast one morning when Bucky walked in, his gaze flicking over her quickly. Darcy cleared her throat and stayed right where she was. Thor was down the hall and Natasha and Steve were probably awake if Bucky was. Darcy finished up her bowl of cereal and left a mug of coffee at Bucky's elbow as she left. She made sure that the terrible artist's impression of Steve was looking right at Bucky.

_-the end_


End file.
